


All Men (and women) Are Created Equal

by Jistery



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Aaron Burr is slimy, But also a great friend, But it gets there I promise, Canon Era, Eliza dresses up as a dude, Eliza pretends to be Jeremiah Schuyler, Era-Typical beliefs on the mentally ill and women, Except Burr, F/M, Feminist Aaron Burr, George Washington is a Dad, He loves all his revolutionaries, I almost forgot and that's like the main plot point, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, slow start-up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-25 01:26:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 19,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9796238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jistery/pseuds/Jistery
Summary: Eliza Schuyler was not about to let her father fight in the war. So, she did it for him.*Or, the fanfic where Eliza dresses up as a man to fight in the American Revolution, but finds out war is not as glorious as the people make it out to be*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to the Hamilton Fandom and my first fanfiction *ever* Please be forgiving if this is complete trash.

12 hours ago, Elizabeth Schuyler had been merrily roaming the city of New York with her two sisters.

10 hours ago, Elizabeth Schuyler had fought with her father to try to get him to stay home and not fight in the war.

2 hours ago, Elizabeth Schuyler had been dressed in a blue coat and black boots with a knife around her waist and sat upon a horse.

15 minutes ago, Elizabeth Schuyler had been official renamed and written down as “Philip Jeremiah Schuyler,” long forgotten and sickly son of wealthy and well-known Philip Schuyler.

Funny how things work out like that.

The events that had led up to Eliza standing in front of the respected and revered General George Washington, her posing as a nineteen-year-old-or-something male were still a jumbled mess inside her mind. She remembered getting back home from the city with her sisters, Angelica and Peggy Schuyler, and seeing her dearest father clutching a letter in a shaking and pale hand, eyes grime. He had announced to them that he had been asked to fight in the war, by George Washington himself. “They need men to fight. If they have no troops, they can’t win the war. You must understand the importance of this…” Philip had tried to reason as to why he should abandon his three daughters to go fight his life away. Eliza wasn’t having it.

The screaming match that had transpired between her and her dearest father was rather blurry in her mind. Any other daughter wouldn’t have dared to speak a word against her father, but Eliza wasn’t “any other daughter.” There was no way she was letting her sick-at-the-drop-of-the-hat dad go and fight. The poor man would be dead by the end of the month. If he didn’t die on the battle field, he most certainly would fall to any sickness that happened to plague him while he lived in those god-forsaken camps. Angelica and Peggy had quickly sided with Eliza, begging their father not to go. They needed him.

In the end, somehow (Eliza had a feeling it was Angelica’s suggestion), Eliza ended up upon horseback and had been getting instructed on how to get to the camp where George Washington was residing. She wore men’s clothes, specifically clothes you might find a solider wearing, and quite a bit of makeup. Of course, her father hadn’t known of this. He would be getting quite the shock from her two sisters when they had to tell him the truth of where his dearest Elizabeth was when he arrived back home from his meeting.

The makeup on Eliza’s face weighed unusually heavy on her. She was afraid she was going to sweat so much it was simply going to wash away. She was going to be found out. There was no way she was going to be able to do this. _There was no way-_

“Jeremiah. It would do well if you were to respond when your superiors ask you a question.” Shit. Eliza had barely been listening to what the General had been saying. _Nice going, you’ve been here for all of maybe an hour and have already fucked up. Good job._ She quickly snapped her head up and offered a sheepish smile. In the deepest voice she could muster without sounding completely fake, she responded.

“My apologizes, Sir, but what was the question? I was kind of lost in my own mind…” Eliza trailed off uncertainly at the look Washington was giving her. It was partly annoyed and partly…amused? That wasn’t the most common reaction one got when they admitted that they hadn’t been listening when someone else was trying to talk.

“I guess I’ll repeat myself. I just wanted to know more about you. I hadn’t been aware that Philip Schuyler had a son. In fact, the man had said himself that he had never borne a male.” Washington leaned in slightly, and Eliza found herself holding her breath. As if not breathing would stop the man in front of her from realizing who she was. “Tell me…are you mentally ill?”

“What.” Eliza was taken aback. Of all the things she had expected to come from the General’s mouth, that had not been it. She was too shocked to worry about that what she had just said might be a little disrespectful, but she felt it was justified. _You don’t just ask someone if they’re mentally ill, jesus. What is wrong with this man?_ For his part, Washington simply cocked his head to the side and waited patiently for an actual answer from Eliza. Oh. Right. Responding would probably be a good idea right about now.

“Uh…well…no? No sir, I mean.” She felt her face heating up at her lousy attempt to reply. But, suddenly, something clicked in her brain. It would make sense that if Philip Schuyler did have a son but never told anyone about it, it was because there was something wrong with said son. A plan was forming in Eliza’s head, and she was quick to put it into action. Slowly, she let her face contort into a look of shame and let tears well up in her eyes. “Please…don’t throw me out! I want to fight! I want to defend my country!”

Suddenly, Washington was standing from his chair and grasping onto Eliza’s thin arm. “It’s quite alright, son. I’m not going to force you to leave. You can still fight in the war.” Eliza mentally cheered. She didn’t know she had it in her to lie like this to another person. To someone of such high ranking as the man in front of her no less. On the outside, though, she wiped away unshed tears and looked up at Washington with large, hopeful eyes.

“You’re not…kicking me out? But I’m a freak.” Eliza inwardly cringed at her choice of words. But, she wasn’t a fool. She knew how the mentally ill and physically disabled were treated. How they were viewed by society. If she was really going to go through with this, she had to go in with one hundred percent. There was no holding back now.

Washington looked down at her with sympathetic eyes. “We’ll keep this on the low, okay? Nobody outside this tent needs to know of this information. Your secret is safe with me, Jeremiah. I’ll be showing you to your tent now, son.” Eliza simply nodded and let herself be guided to a small tent that was a couple feet away from the General’s. It had a big spot where another patch of fabric was sewed in, most likely to cover up where a hole had previously been. She was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that no one else seemed to occupy the space. _Lucky me._

After a few more brief words from the General, Eliza was left alone in the tent. She found her single bag of stuff was already there. She let out a sigh as she flopped onto the hard wood board that she supposed was to be her bed. _I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m posing as a man to fight in the war in place of my father. This is insane._ Many similar thoughts ran through Eliza’s head until she finally fell asleep from pure exhaustion. But, not before one last thought entered her mind.

What the fuck had she gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza's first day doesn't go quite as she hoped it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, like an idiot, I didn't realize that my italics didn't transfer over, so if chapter 1 seemed kinda wonky in some places, that was why. However, I did go back and fix it, so any confusion about that is hopefully cleared up now! Anyways, please enjoy!

Eliza woke up to the sound of cannons going off. Not exactly the best way to start the day. She could hear shouts from outside, and that, along with the loud ringing left in her ears, was enough to set her mind into panic mode. She quickly ran outside (but not before checking her makeup with the mirror she brought, and also redoing her bun so that her hair was neatly hidden away) to see what was going on. She was met with a horrific sight.

Multiple men in red coats seemed to be pushing themselves into the camp, almost all of them holding guns or wielding swords. Another loud _boom_ of a cannon went off, making Eliza jump. Her eyes were wild with panic and fear as she looked around, trying to spot Washington, or at least another solider. Looking down slightly, she did find a solider, but she instantly regretted it once her brain could process the sight before her. Right in front of Eliza was a man in a blue coat, bleeding heavily from a head wound, it seemed. She screamed.

Eliza couldn’t move. Her breath seemed frozen in her throat as she simply stared at the bleeding man in front of her. She wanted to scream for help, but her mouth wouldn’t stop gaping dumbly enough for her to do so. Luckily, she didn’t have to call for anyone. It seemed her little outburst from earlier had attracted someone’s attention.

“Jeremiah! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t just stand here out in the open, do you want to get shot?” Washington. _Thank god._ Eliza couldn’t find it in herself to reply to the man, but thankfully it didn’t seem like he was expecting one. He quickly grabbed her, and Eliza instantly clung to his arm. Her breaths were now coming out in quick, short gasps, and she was sure she sounded like a demented man. _Oh right._

A gun shot went off close by, and then another. The second one was so close to her head that Eliza swore she heard it go past her ear. Washington, for his part, just kept running towards whatever destination he had in mind, however he couldn’t seem to stop saying the words “fuck” and “shit” over and over again. Finally, Washington stepped behind a pile of crates before placing Eliza down onto the ground. He was quick to mask the slightly panicky look on his face, if only for the sake of the person before him.

“Son, whatever you do, do not come out from here until I come to get you. Do you understand?” Eliza could only nod, not trusting her voice to not come out squeaky and high-pitched. “I’ll be back once this shit-storm is over. Do. Not. Move.” And with those words, the General left, coat flapping slightly behind him. Eliza placed a hand over her heart, feeling it beat irregularly against her ribs.

She suddenly felt as if she was being constricted. The wraps that she had to help suppress her chest felt as if they were digging into her skin, making it hard for her to focus on anything else. She dug in fingers into her chest, with full intent on ripping off the wraps, before stopping herself. That would only make her situation worse, she supposed.

Right now, her mind was a cycle of _holy shit I’m going to die,_ and _this was the worst decision of my life. I’m such a fucking idiot._ She pressed both her hands to her forehead, trying to ward off the thoughts that were plaguing her mind. Eliza suddenly whipped her head around, her ears perking slightly at the sound of scratching from somewhere near her. She thought she was going to faint when her eyes landed on the source of the sound. A man, dressed in a red coat, was crawling towards her. The thing that really stuck out was that he had no right leg.

Eliza scrambled backwards, in hopes of getting away from the man. She tried to say something, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out but a terrified squeak. The man, however, seemed to have no trouble talking, for a constant stream of pleas left his mouth. “Please, for the love of Christ, help me. Help me! It hurts! _Just make the pain stop._ ” The desperate tone of voice the man used almost made Eliza forget that he was a British solider. Almost.

Finally, she found her voice. “Get the fuck away from me,” _Wow, smooth Eliza. You really showed him._ She hadn’t meant for the curse to slip out, but she thought it was justified, considering the situation she was in right now. She somehow managed to get up on her feet, and with legs of jelly moved backwards, never letting her eyes move away from the man’s advancing body, no matter how much she wanted to. With shakey hands, she gripped the knife that was strapped around her waist, fully intending to use to get stop the man from getting any closer.

However, it seemed that wouldn’t be the case. Eliza was no longer concealed by the crates anymore, having moved so far back, so that meant her giant fuck up was on full display for anyone who looked over here to see.

When Eliza had gone to grab her dagger, she had been too scared to really pay close attention to what exactly she was doing. So, when she wrapped her hands around the blade of the knife, you could imagine her surprise. Eliza looked down at her hand that was currently clutching the blade like a complete idiot. White-hot pain exploded in her hand, but she couldn’t seem to let go of the knife. Even the man in front of her had stopped trying to crawl his way over to her, and instead was staring at her with wide, confused eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing, Jeremiah?!” The loud voice startled Eliza enough to quickly drop the weapon in her hand. She brought her injured limb to her chest, tears already threatening to spill. Washington was making his way over to her, looking all the part of a concerned and exasperated parent. With his long strides, he was by Eliza’s side in an instant.

Washington was quick to grab her wrist (the right one, the one that was attached to the hand she had injured), and hurriedly start dragging her off somewhere, again. _I guess we’re just leaving that guy there to bleed out. That’s kind of fucked._ She wasn’t too sure why she was concerned for the man,she blamed her jumbled mess of a mind. The pain that she was experiencing in her hand was making it hard to focus on any one thought for long, though.

Before she knew it, they were in a tent. A different one from her’s or Washington’s, it seemed. There was an actual bed in this one. It looked very inviting in that moment.

“Carnes, take care of his hand, please. I can’t have it getting infected.” At this command, the man, apparently named Carnes, was quick to get up from his spot from sorting some sort of herbs to stand in front of Eliza.

“Yes, sir. Please, sit down right here while I get the proper bandages.” As soon as Washington knew Eliza was getting taken care of, he left the tent to go back out to where the battle seemed to have ended. At least, Eliza couldn’t hear anymore gunshots or the blasting of cannons. So, she assumed the battle was over. Eliza zoned back in to what Carnes was doing as soon as she felt him gently lift her hand up and began wrapping white gauze around the wound. As soon as he was done with that, he carefully placed her now constricted hand on her thigh.

Carnes was turned away from her when he began speaking again. “Be careful not to move it too much. It wouldn’t be too pretty if that wound was to open up and get infected.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Why don’t you try going to sleep? You look like death.” _Rude._

She did, however, heed the man’s advice and laid down on the bed to sleep. Mostly, because she had been forced to sleep on that stiff wooden board last night and it had left a deep ache in her back that she hadn’t had time to notice before now. The shock in her was slowly leaving her body, making it relax into the thin mattress beneath her. And, with no further prompting, Eliza quickly fell back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know Jeremiah Schuyler was an actual person? Yes, Philip Schuyler really did have more than three daughters. Shocking, I know.
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get introduced to another character, finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this story has a kinda slow build-up, and I'm sorry for that. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter that is totally *not* self-indulgent at all!

When Eliza awoke for the second time, there was only two thoughts in her brain. _I’m starving,_ and _my breath probably smells like Death’s personal trash bin._ She went to rub the sleep from her eyes, but when she lifted her hand to her face, she was confused as to why she felt rough, scratchy material instead. That’s when everything sudden rushed back to her, making her body go rigid. Had they won the fight? Was everyone okay? _Was Washington okay?_

The man was the only person she knew in the place, and if he was gone, then she would have a hard time indeed. With these worrying thoughts, it took her a moment to realize she wasn’t in a tent anymore. Eliza blinked. She could have sworn Washington had led her to a medical tent of some sort after her little accident with the knife. Had someone moved her out over night? Luckily, someone answered her unspoken questions for her.

“Oh, you’re awake. That’s good. Maybe Washington will let me off of watch duty now…” The man speaking was-Eliza had to admit-a cute young man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and even darker eyes to match. “We had to abandon camp, but you were out cold. Couldn’t wake you up. So, we had to carry you. Did you know you’re about as heavy as a sack of feathers?” The man smiled teasingly at her, and Eliza felt her heart flutter even so slightly. Damn he had a nice smile.

The man’s eyes suddenly snapped to her’s as he held out his hand. “I didn’t introduce myself yet. I’m Alexander Hamilton.” Eliza hesitantly shook Alexander’s hand the way a man would to another man. _This feels so weird._

“Eliz-I mean. Philip Jeremiah Schuyler. But please call me Jeremiah. Sir.” Eliza mentally scolded herself on her slip up. Alexander was giving her a funny look. _Great. Look what you’ve done. Not even two days here and you’re already blowing it._

Alexander, however, just chuckled a bit. “’Sir’? What’s with the stiff formalities? Just call me Alexander.” Eliza gave the man in front of her a sheepish grin. This was going to be hard. All her life, Eliza had been coached on how to act around and respond to men. She was taught what was expected of a lady. But, now, she wasn’t a lady. At least in not Alexander’s eyes, or anyone’s for that matter. From now on until the war was done, she was Jeremiah.

Suddenly, Eliza’s stomach growled. Her face flushed with embarrassment at the sound, but Alexander just laughed again. “I’ll go get you some food. But don’t get your hopes up. It’s about as tasty as wood chips.” Eliza found that she didn’t really care all that much what it tasted like right now. She was so hungry anything sounded good. And, thirsty. She was so goddamn thirsty. She was surprised she had been able to say anything with how dry her mouth and throat were.

Moments later Alexander was back with a wooden bowl in one hand and- _is that a flask?_ Alexander must have caught her confused gaze because he was quick to explain that, yes, it was a flask, but no, there was no alcohol in it (“Sad, I know, but that’s saved for nighttime and celebrations,”). Eliza basically gulped the entire thing of water down in one go. However, before she could finish it off completely, Alexander was grabbing her hand to stop her. “You shouldn’t drink it so fast. We only get a certain amount of water per day, you can’t get any more than what is given to you. It’s best not to down it all so quick like that.” 

Eliza stopped drinking. She wasn’t used to being told she only got a certain amount of something. The comment was enough to bring her back down to reality. She put down the flask and instead motioned for Alexander to hand her the bowl. He obliged, also placing down a crudely carved wooden spoon. Eliza looked down at the food in front of her. If you could even really call this food. It was grey and chunky looking, making Eliza regret her thoughts of earlier saying that she would eat anything. However, she was starving. To prove her point, her stomach growled again, and with that, she grabbed the spoon with her left hand to begin eating.

Her hand, however, seemed to have other plans. She wasn’t use to eating with only the use of one hand (her left one at that). She awkwardly tried to aim her spoon at the bowl to scoop up some of the food, but only managed to hit the rim of it and tip it over slightly. Panicked, she let go of the spoon completely. Alexander seemed amused.

“Need some help with that?” Eliza suddenly wasn’t so fond of his face anymore. A smirk marred his features, and his eyes glinted with amusement. She felt mocked.

“I d-don’t need help. I got th-fuck!” That was the second time she had let slip a cuss word. This place was really getting to her. But, that god-forsaken spoon kept being a complete piece of shit and wouldn’t do what she wanted it to. Her face was now a bright crimson, from both anger and embarrassment. Alexander finally took pity on her and grabbed the spoon from her hand.

“Here, I’ll just feed you. It’ll keep you from making a complete mess of yourself.” Eliza let out an annoyed puff of air but allowed Alexander to slowly feed her the food until it was all gone. She felt like a complete child. But, she had to admit, it was kind of nice to be the complete center of someone’s attention like this. Or maybe it was just because it was Alexander.

Once she was done eating, Eliza sat back against the wooden board that was behind her. However, before she could completely relax, her bladder made itself known. _Oh, fuck. I’m going to have to go pee somewhere._ “Uh…quick question. Where’s the bathroom?” Alexander quirked an eyebrow up.

“Uh, where ever, I guess? Just make sure you don’t do it right in the middle of camp or anything. I’m sure there’s some bushes close by you could use if you like.” _Bushes? What? Is this guy insane?_

“By bushes, you mean…?” Eliza stared at Alexander with barely masked fear at the prospect of having to pee in some damn bushes.

“By bushes, I mean bushes. You know, those green things that grow from the ground?”

Oh, this was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another character is introduced + Eliza starts to question her life choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you guys have realized this or not, but I'm not good with the Internet. I'm trying to learn, but little old me is having some issues. Sorry for the trouble!

Eliza was freaked out the entire time she was peeing. She was afraid someone was going to accidentally walk by her and be like _wow, Jeremiah doesn’t have a dick!_ However, she soon found out that going pee wasn’t going to be the hardest thing. It was getting her pants buttoned that was really the issue.

She had managed to get her pants up somehow, even with the use of only one hand. But, she realized, getting the pants to button back up was proving very difficult. Eliza, being a woman, had never worn pants before. And, she wasn’t use to having to dress herself, she had servants for that. However, now that she was out here and all alone, she was going to be forced to figure this stuff out. _It would’ve been nice if they taught me how to do some of this before they sent me off,_ she thought as she wrestled with the buttons. She was breathing hard through her nose in concentration, and Eliza blamed that for not hearing someone approaching her.

“You seem to be having a bit of trouble there. Need a hand?” Eliza’s head snapped up at the sound of someone’s voice. She could already feel her face heat up as she looked at the man that had a mocking smirk on his face. He stood no taller than Alexander, and had dark skin and eyes that seemed to look straight past your exterior and into your very soul. And, unlike Alexander, he didn’t have a head full of glorious hair. Before Eliza could respond to his question, he was already at her side and was reaching down to move her hand away from where she had been trying to button up her pants.

_This is super creepy._ “Uh…” Eliza couldn’t seem to say anything as the man effortlessly got her back to fully clothed and concealed. _I’m very uncomfortable right now,_ she thought, as the man flashed her a smile. She tried talking again. “Uhm…thanks for the help, but, what?”

Instead of answering, the man held out his hand for her to shake. Which, she thought, seemed unnecessary, considering the complete disrespect he had just shown to her personal space. “Aaron Burr, sir, at your service.” Eliza didn’t like the smile the guy wore. His expression reminded her of someone who knew something about you that you didn’t. However, she did take his hand in her’s and shake it.

“Philip Jeremiah Schuyler.” _Nice, you didn’t fuck it up this time Eliza,_ “but, ‘sir’? No need for the stiff formalities. Just call me Jeremiah.” Eliza inwardly cheered herself for her use of what Alexander had said. She liked how it made her sound sophisticated. Aaron just chuckled.

“Ah, my apologies. Jeremiah it is, then.” Aaron suddenly leaned forward, making it so they were close enough that their noses were almost brushing against each other’s. Eliza’s breathing faltered. Aaron brought his mouth close to her ear, and she swore she could hear the smile in his voice. “Jeremiah, I think you should know something…” Her entire body tensed. She couldn’t bring herself to move away. “Your makeup is running.”

Finally, Eliza jumped back, covering her face. She looked at the man before her through her fingers. He was still standing there, looking smug as hell. “You…you can’t tell anyone. Please, no one can find out about this.” Her voice came out as a muffled squeak because of her hands. “Do you know what they would do to me…” Eliza trailed off. She didn’t want to know what might happen if her little secret was to come out. Aaron just shook his head, all traces of smugness gone. The look on his face was now replaced with something more serious.

“I’m not going to tell anyone. But I do think you should go fix your face before someone less accepting notices something.” Eliza finally let her hands fall away from her face.

“Right. Thank you, so much.” She tried to slip past him, but before she could fully get away from the extremely stressful encounter, Aaron grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“But, can you tell me one thing? What’s your actual name? And are you really a Schuyler?”

For a moment, Eliza considered telling him. But then the thought passed. She didn’t want this man knowing her real name, she concluded. “I don’t think telling you is a good idea. You might let it slip.” And with that said, Eliza shook Aaron’s hand off her arm and made her way back to where Alexander was. Aaron was left watching her back as she left.

Eliza was making her way towards the area Alexander had been before she remembered what all Aaron had said. She tried to move as much of her hair as she could to conceal her face. _I need to find my bag._ She was fearful now to face Alexander, not knowing how much of her makeup had come off. When she looked over to where Alex was, she saw three other men sitting around and talking with him. _Oh, great. Even more people I get to make a fool of myself in front of._ But, she stopped walking to see if she could locate the thing that held her supplies. She really needed to find her stuff.

She spotted it a few feet away from where one of the three new men were sitting. And, just her luck, this man seemed to be the biggest of the new arrivals. He looked tall, maybe even taller than Washington, and had his thick curly hair pulled back in a bun. He seemed to be describing something, waving his hands animatedly as he spoke. She was going to have to try and not attract any of the men’s attention to be able to get her bag, it seemed. _That’s just perfect. Really fan-fucking-tastic right there._

As she scooted her way closer to her destination, she could hear more clearly what they were talking about. It seemed the large man was describing more about the battle that had taken place a few days before. He spoke was a thick French accent, mixing English and French together in his sentences. Eliza reached her bag and picked it up, mentally congratulating herself on a job well done. She turned on her heel and began making her way back behind some bushes when that accent-heavy voice suddenly directed itself towards her.

“Oui, who are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get fully introduced to the Ham Squad. Kinda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it obvious I didn't have a full plot thought out going into this? I really hate this chapter. I think I rewrote it 3 times and it's still pretty terrible. Sorry :(

_Dammit._ Eliza debated on whether to turn around and face the man or to just keep on walking. She wondered what the odds were that they would just let her walk off. However, before she could decide on what to do, the decision was made for her. She felt a hand clasp down on her shoulder and she was basically forced to turn around.

“Jeremiah you’re finally back! You were using the bathroom for a long time. Food not settling well?” The three other men snickered slightly at Alexander’s remark. They knew all about the god-awful thing called “food” in this place. The man was smiling down at her, making her self-consciously hide her face more into her hair. She _really_ didn’t want another person finding her out. One was already too many.

“Ah, no. I was actually talking to someone…Aaron Burr, do you know him?” All three men behind Alexander faces darkened a bit at the mention of Burr. Eliza was confused on why, though.

A man with curly hair pulled back in a ponytail and a face full of freckles broke the suddenly tense silence. “Yeah, we know him. Burr’s a slimy man. You shouldn’t hang out with him.” Though he was a bit of an oddball, Eliza wouldn’t have called Aaron “a slimy man.” She wondered what he did to these guys to make them think such a thing.

The third man, one with a wool hat upon his head, spoke up for the first time. “Laurens is right. Hang out with us instead! We’re way better than that ass.” The man apparently named Laurens let out a _heck yeah!_ in agreement. “The name’s Hercules Mulligan!” Hercules seemed to have only one volume: loud. Instead of shaking her hand like Alexander and Aaron had, Eliza found herself being pulled into a side-hug, being crushed against the side of the man’s torso.

“And I am Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette,” the tallest man said with a great flourish. At Eliza’s flustered look, he added quickly, “Ah, but you may just call me Lafayette. I understand that it can be quite a mouthful to say at one time.” Alexander was quick to cut in before the other man could formally introduce himself.

“And this is John Laurens. Yay, you know everyone. Now, hurry, Washington is coming. Make yourself look like you’re doing something productive.” All the men scrambled back, but not before effectively bumping into each other a few times. _These guys are complete goofs._ When Washington arrived, he looked to the group of four before shaking his head slightly. Then, his gaze switched to focus on Eliza.

“Jeremiah, I need you to come with me. I’ll be showing you to your new tent…” Eliza just nodded and went to follow the General. However, not before waving and saying her goodbyes to the men she had just been introduced to.

“We’ll have to talk more later!” That was John. The other men quickly agreed and gave over-dramatic goodbyes to Eliza before resuming their earlier conversation. Eliza saw Washington roll his eyes as he led her to her new tent.

Washington looked back to her for a moment. “Those four are quite a…rambunctious group. They can be a bit much sometimes.” Eliza giggled slightly at this. She barely had any interactions with the men and she could already tell they were a high-energy group. “If they get to be too much for you, though, just tell me. I’ll make sure they stay off your back.”

“No, it’s okay! I find them quite…charming.” Eliza blushed slightly when an image of Alexander and his cute little smile came to mind. Washington just gave her a strange look before focusing his gaze back in front of him. She belatedly realize how strange that might sound coming from-at least in the General’s eyes-another man. Instead of trying to correct her mistake and most likely making things worse, Eliza opted for keeping quiet as Washington showed her to her new tent. Again, it seemed, she had a living space all to herself.

As she was thanking Washington and turning to go hurry inside her tent to finally reapply her makeup, two men approached them. One was worriedly skimming through a set of papers, biting his lip slightly. The other one looked up at Washington, obviously nervous. The man had probably never been in the presence of someone of such high status. The other man finally looked up as he came to stop in front of Washington.

“Your Excellency, this man is wanting to join our ranks…but I can’t fit him in anywhere. It’s getting so overcrowded, and we already lost so many tents when we had to flee from our last camp. I was wondering if you had any suggestions…” the man trailed off as he waited for Washington to respond. Eliza hadn’t been aware that they were so hard-pressed for space. Indeed, she had been under the impression that they had been struggling to find soldiers to fight in the war.

Washington sighed. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lee. I’ll try to figure something out…” Eliza could practically see the stress accumulating on Washington’s shoulders. She suddenly wondered something. Why did she have an entire tent to herself? It seemed like everyone else was sharing a living space with at least one other person. Why was she the odd one out?

“Uhm…if I may suggest something? Maybe this man could share a tent with me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind. I am by myself, after all.” Lee shot an eyebrow up at this statement. It seemed he hadn’t been aware that Eliza had her own tent. Washington’s body tensed, his eyes snapping up to meet Eliza’s.

“No, that is quite alright. I’ll find a place for this man, even if he has to share with me.” All three people surrounding Washington had a look of shock on their face at this statement. _Why does he insist that I have a tent to myself?_ The thought suddenly hit her. The realization made Eliza’s entire body feel cold.

_No one wants to share a tent with a mentally ill person._

Eliza wondered if Washington was doing it more for her safety, or everyone else’s. “You two come with me and we’ll try to figure this out. You and I will talk later, Jeremiah. For now, try to get yourself settled back in.” Everyone could only nod mutely and comply with the General’s wishes. Eliza made her way into her tent, and, setting down her bag, she finally got out the stuff she needed to fix her face up. Just as she was finishing up, she heard the rustle of fabric, notifying her that someone had entered her tent.

When she looked up, she was slightly surprised to find Aaron standing in front of the entrance, looking around her living space. When he noticed her looking, he cleared his throat slightly before speaking. “I happened to overhear the conversation from earlier about that man’s living arrangement. Do you think he knows about your… secret?” When he said this, Eliza could almost see some sort of concern come across the man’s face.

“Ah, no. At least, I don’t think so. It’s probably because he thinks I have a mental issue.” At Aaron’s confused look, she elaborated. “I mean…I kind of told him that I did. I used it as a cover-up story.” Aaron nodded slightly at these words.

“Good thinking. It would make sense if no one knew of your name before.” Eliza didn’t feel the need to tell Aaron that it was Washington that had pretty much started the whole “mentally-ill” thing. She didn’t mind letting him think she was smarter than she actually was, after all. It felt nice to be respected, she concluded.

Aaron made a move to leave. “I will be seeing you around, then. And, if you feel you need anything, let me know. I’ll be happy to help.” He said this with a charming smile. He turned to exit the tent, but before he could leave, Eliza grasped onto his hand, stilling his movements.

“I’m not sure if I said this before but, thank you. I really do owe you one for not telling anyone about me. It means a lot.” Eliza offered him her own small smile. She could have sworn she saw Aaron’s cheeks flush a little bit.

“Well, what can I say, I’m a firm believer in equal opportunities for all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's face it, the fact that _this_ never happened to Mulan during her time in the war was complete bullshit (other than the fact that it was a children's movie, but that's besides the point).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everybody who has left a comment on previous chapters. I appreciate every single one of them. I was going to attempt to respond to them all personally, but this just seemed like a more efficient way to go about it. (Oh, and just so you know, I think I squealed a little bit after reading each comment. You guys are too sweet).

“A Winter’s Ball?” Eliza acted like she had never heard the phrase in her life. In reality, she knew exactly what the four men in front of her were talking about. She had attended many in her lifetime, after all.

“Yeah! It’s this big annual party hosted by Philip Schuyler. He’s a real money bag.” Laurens let out a dreamy sigh as he continued, “Always lots of pretty ladies there, too.” Hercules let out a snort at that. Alexander, however, suddenly seemed much more interested in the whole thing. Eliza had come to find out, over the month she had been friends with Alex, that he was a real ladies’ man. She doubted he could ever keep himself tied down to a single woman. He loved flirting with people of both genders way too much.

Lafayette spoke up suddenly from where he had been shining his boots, his head bent. “Say, Jeremiah, you and this Philip guy share a last name. Do you happen to be related to him?” It was an innocent enough question, but it still put her on edge. She wanted to distant herself as much as possible from the Schuyler name, no matter how much it hurt her to do so. However, she had to put her family pride aside if she wanted to keep her true identity a secret.

“We’re like…distance cousins. Or something. I don’t know the man personally.” Eliza chewed her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up from Angelica. God, she missed her sisters. She would think about them now and then and randomly start tearing up. One time, she had had one of her little ‘scenes’ while speaking with Washington and she had practically scared the poor man half to death. He had treated her like a glass doll for three days after that.

Hercules cleared his throat slightly, pulling Eliza from her thoughts. “Well, maybe you could use your family connections and get us an invitation to the party?” The man’s eyes were adorably hopeful that Eliza had to suppress a giggle. She agreed that she would try and _“see what I can do.”_ With that said, she bid the men goodbye and headed for her tent.

When she arrived at her tent, she instantly flopped down onto her “bed” and stretched out. That’s when she felt it. _Oh no. Nononononono-_

She was afraid to look down, in fear of what she might find. Slowly, she let her gaze drop to her crotch, where a small spot of blood was forming. Damn these pants for being such a light color. Damn her period. Damn woman bodily functions all together. She had literally felt the _blood shoot out of her._ She wished she would have remembered to bring something, _anything,_ in preparation for this, but the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.

Eliza was beginning to panic slightly. She had no other pants in her tent to wear as of right now. That meant she had to walk all the way across camp to find someone to get her new ones, and _somehow_ explain her predicament without giving herself away. She needed a cover story.

Her gaze flashed around the area, looking for something to help her out. Her eyes suddenly landed on a small switch blade sitting by her bag. After her little accident, Washington had made sure to keep most sharp objects away from her, understandably. However, Alexander and the boys had been goofing around in her tent a few days back and she guessed they had left the blade behind. She hadn’t bothered to take it back to them.

She hesitantly reached for the blade, mentally getting herself ready for what she was about to do. She wrapped her left hand around the handle ( _not_ the blade) and, using her other hand to steady herself, she cut right into her upper thigh, near the now medium sized spot of blood. She hissed in pain as she cut into herself deeper than she had meant to. Eliza was instantly regretting her decision, as a concerning amount of blood was now covering her entire right thigh. _I’m such a dumbass._

She hobbled her way out of her tent, gasping in pain as she did. Okay, maybe she hadn’t thought this entire thing through. Now she had to come up with an excuse on why she had cut open her thigh. As she walked through camp, many men gave her odd and concerned stares, which she just waved off with a pained smile. Just as she was about to fall from the pain, however, a hand grabbed her own, keeping her upright.

“Jeremiah, what the hell happened to you?” Eliza looked up to see a very concerned Burr looking at her. She wasn’t sure what to tell him. She decided she might as well go with the truth, her pride couldn’t be wounded any more than what it had been already, anyways.

As Burr led her to what she assumed was wherever Washington was, she leaned in close to whisper in his ear, lest anyone was trying to listen in on what they were saying. “Feminine emergency, Aaron.” Burr jumped slightly at this and turned his head toward her with widened eyes. His mouth opened and closed a moment before he firmly clamped it shut. He wasn’t even going to bother trying to respond to that.

Though Eliza did find Burr’s reaction rather hilarious, all feelings of amusement left her as soon as they arrived in front of Washington. The General’s hard gaze on her made Eliza feel suddenly very small and meek. “Burr…what happened?” The tired way Washington said it made Eliza sorry for the man. She knew he must be under quite a lot of stress. She was only adding to it.

“Uh…well…you see-“

“I had an itch.” Eliza cut off Burr, who, for the first time since she had met the man, didn’t seem to know what to say. He either had a clever response or purposely chose to be silent. There was usually no in-between with him. “I had an itch so I…cut myself. With a knife.” Had it been anyone else who had said that, Washington might not have believed them. But, with how Eliza had acted in the past, this really wasn’t much of a stretch from her usual behavior to Washington.

“I see. Burr, go get a medic for Jeremiah.” The man’s exasperated tone had Eliza feeling guilty for a moment, but then Washington was pulling her into his tent and she was effectively pulled from her thoughts as he gently pushed her down to sit on a hard wooden chair. “We’re going to have to cut the fabric away from the wound, I think.” Washington was gently lifting her leg to prop it up on a second chair.

Eliza let out a grunt of pain as the General prodded the wound lightly with a finger. He cast an apologetic look to her before slowly peeling the fabric of her pants (which had started to stick uncomfortably to her skin) away from the wound as best as he could. “Who gave you the knife?”

The question made Eliza freeze up a bit. She wasn’t dumb, she knew he was purposely keeping her away from sharp objects. She had went to go get dinner one night at the “food tent” as the men dubbed it, and Washington had practically carried her back to her tent, far away from all the knives and forks. She didn’t want to get Alexander and the boys in trouble, but then again, she didn’t want to lie to Washington either. At least, she didn’t want to lie even more than she had already.

“Alexander and them left it in my tent the other night. It’s my fault for not returning it.” Before Washington could respond, Burr was back with a medic in tow. Eliza mentally cheered when she saw that he had clean pants in his hand. It was the little victories in life. 

Once the medic had worked his magic and had left, (Washington following him out, but not before promising to come check on her later) it was just her and Burr in the tent. Her leg was wrapped up tightly, and the pain in her thigh was now just a dull throb. Burr tapped her shoulder awkwardly, suddenly looking sheepish. “Hey. I got you these…for, uh, you know. _That._ ” He handed her a package wrapped in scratchy white material. She unwrapped it, and a giant smile overtook her features. “I knew that those women who came to visit the camp last week had some…I had just hoped they left them for when they come back. Heh.” The look of pure awkwardness on the man’s face just made Eliza smile even wider.

“Oh my god Aaron, thank you! You’re wonderful, you know that?” Burr was now blushing madly, causing Eliza to cackle. He didn’t break often, but when he did, it was hilarious. Burr was usually completely serious, and watching him get reduced to a spluttering mess was one of Eliza’s favorite things. “Now get out so I can shove this thing in myself. Unless you want to watch…?” Eliza had never seen a man move so fast in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm extremely sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter! Writing classes completely drained me of any motivation (we had to write 3 Epics this week, and it was hell). Anyhow, please enjoy this kinda fluffy chapter ;D!

_“But, sir, with all due respect, didn’t you already agree that we deserved a few days away from camp?”_

_“Yeah, you promised!”_

_“Well, I retract that promise. There is nothing else to discuss.”_

That was the basis of the conversation that had taken place a few hours ago between Alexander, Laurens, and Washington. Now, the two soldiers sat against some wooden crates, stuck in a small tent with Eliza. Washington had basically ordered them to stay there with her, not giving them any specific details. Eliza, however, knew exactly why they were stuck watching her. Apparently, Washington was afraid to leave her to herself, which was fair considering how much of a pain in his side she had become because of her foolishness. _Can’t leave the mentally ill alone, they might fuck everything up._

The two men had tried to pry some information out of her a few times, asking questions such as “How’d you get cut?” or “Why is Washington being such a dick?” She couldn’t come up with a plausible lie, so she would just mutter about the information being classified (that’s what Washington did when he didn’t want to talk about something) and changed the subject. She knew that wasn’t enough to get them to stop, but she hoped it would keep them quiet for a short while.

The boy’s insistent questions weren’t the only thing she was having to deal with. Her period was not being kind to her. It felt like Satan himself was squeezing her insides, making her cramp up painfully. She had been biting her lip to keep her whimpers of agony at bay, leaving it bloody and raw. John must have noticed this, because he was suddenly looking at her with concern. 

“Jeremiah, are you okay man? If you don’t stop, you’re going to bit right through your lip.” This got Alexander’s attention, who, before now, had been fully absorbed in whatever John had been talking about a few moments before. Eliza had noticed, over the month or so that she had known the guys, that whenever John was talking, doing something, whatever, he would have Alexander’s full undivided attention. Eliza found it kind of cute.

Alexander also graced Eliza with a concerned look. “Woah, man. You’re going to tear your lip to bloody pieces like that.” Eliza removed her teeth from her lip, but instantly pressed her mouth into a tight line as another cramp made her stomach tighten in painful knots. It must have shown on her face, because Alexander was now fully standing up and at attention. “Do you need me to go get you anything? Is your leg bothering you? Should I go get some fresh wrappings?” He aimed this last question at John, who nodded his head in reply. Alexander was out of the tent and off to find some new bandages in seconds.

John was at her side, gently unwrapping her leg and prodding at the wound. “Thank God it’s not infected,” she heard John mumble under his breath. She hummed in agreement, not trusting herself to speak right then. Wave after wave of pain attacked her insides. The pain was making her tense so badly that she couldn’t move. It had her frozen in her seat.

After he was done examining her wound, John looked up to her face. He must of saw the discomfort there, because he was rubbing her leg gently, going in soothing circular motions. “I had no idea your leg was bothering you that badly. You should have said something, Jeremiah.” Though she appreciated that John cared about her well-being, it wasn’t her leg that was the issue. It was just an annoying throb compared to the Hell in her stomach.

“Hey, uh, John? Can you…rub my stomach?” For a moment, John just looked at her with confusion. However, he did hesitantly comply with her wishes, moving his hand to rub soothing circles on her belly. “Thanks,” Eliza mumbled quietly, glad that her insides seemed to be slowly unwinding themselves. When Alexander came back, he brought with him new bandages and a confused, though amused, expression.

“What’s going on here? John, why are you rubbing Jeremiah’s stomach…?” Alexander sat down beside John and tapped her leg to show that he needed Eliza to lift it up so he could apply the wrappings. She complied, the mere act of moving one of her limbs not hurting her as much as it had previously. “Not trying to judge, but, walking into a man sensually rubbing another man’s stomach is a bit odd.”

John’s eyes widen, and he quickly removed his hand from Eliza’s stomach, much to her disappointment. “’sensually’? You wound me with your assumptions, Alex! I would never…! Not with another man…! How dare you…!” The blush that made itself present on John’s face was extremely amusing. His inability to complete a single thought out loud seemed endlessly hilarious to Alexander, who was out-right cackling now. Eliza, too, was laughing at the flustered man, tears coming to her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, not wanting them to run down her face and mess up her makeup. That was the last thing she needed right now.

Once all of them had settled down, Eliza and Alexander from their laughing fit, and John from his embarrassment, Eliza opened her mouth to speak. “I feel a lot better now. Thank you, you two. And John, I really appreciate the belly rub.” For reasons unknown to her, Eliza finished her statement with a wink directed at the man. His face was, once again, overcome with a bright red blush. His lips moved soundlessly, trying to formulate a response, but came out with nothing. Alexander stood up from his seat, clapping John on the back.

“That’s a really good look on you, John. I’ll be sure to keep this information filed away for future reference for when I want to see that adorable face of yours again.” With that said, Alexander was once again walking out of the tent, head thrown back in laughter as John covered his face with his hands, his blush going down to his neck now. Maybe her period wouldn’t be too difficult to handle after all. Especially if she had the boys to keep her company through it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza just cannot get a break. Poor babe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning: There are some major creepy-ass-guy vibes in this chapter. Apologies to anyone who feels uncomfortable with such things, I don't plan on writing scenes like this very often (or at all, for that matter).

“Everybody out! Abandon camp! The British are coming!”

Eliza startled awake at the panicked shouts erupting from outside her tent. She bolted upright, stumbling out of her tent, fear causing her brain to short-circuit. She was a good few feet away from her tent and on her way out into the woods surrounding the camp when she suddenly remembered her bag. There was no way she was leaving it behind. _I have to go back!_

She turned, her injured leg making it a bit hard, and half-ran, half-limped back to her tent. For a split second she couldn’t find her bag, then after a few moments of total panic, she spotted it partly concealed by a thin white sheet. She scooped it up, letting out a small breath of relief. She would have never been able to make it without the items inside her bag.

She scrambled to get back outside and start making her way to safety. Her leg was slowing her down, even though it had been a full week since she had injured it. Walking on it was still stiff and awkward, and running was almost impossible. Even still, she was doing good. She was almost out. Almost to where some of her friends and fellow soldiers were at, waiting to make sure everyone made it out. _Just a little bit further-!_

Eliza let out a startled scream when a hand grabbed her hair roughly. She was yanked back, her head snapping backwards with such force she knew she was going to be able to feel it for days after. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” The voice in her ear was harsh and cold, making her entire body go rigid in fear. “Looks like I got myself a wounded little lamb here, huh?” 

Eliza was so scared she thought she was going to piss herself.

The man holding her hostage pulled her upwards by her hair, forcing them to be face-to-face. She noticed how impossibly blue the man’s eyes were, almost hypnotic. Eliza felt like if she stared into them too long, she would lose herself, get lost in an endless sea of cold blue. However, she was violently pulled out of her stupor when the man brought his lips to ghost along her cheek, stopping dangerously close to her mouth to speak.

“You’re so small and helpless looking, I bet I could break you with a single hit. I could destroy you.” Eliza finally got enough wits about her to scream, thrashing against the man’s hold. The man growled low in his throat and dropped her down to the ground, pushing his boot in between her shoulder blades while still keeping his hold on her hair, which had come out of its bun from the manhandling it had been getting. Her face was pressed partly into the dirt ground below, enough to muffle her screams of pure terror. “You got a bit of fight in you, don’t ya? I like that, I like that…gives me a bit more of a challenge.”

“Get your filthy boot off me! I’ll fuck you up, I swear I will!” Eliza’s brain was in full hysteria, not fully knowing what she was saying, and, not really caring.

The man seemed amused by her statement. “Oh, please do darlin’.” He pressed his boot deeper, making pain rocket up and down her back along her spine. “Such pretty long hair, you don’t find a guy with hair like this often, do ya?” The man bent down, putting more pressure on Eliza’s back, and pressed his nose into her hair. He mouthed something utterly filthy into her locks, causing tears to form in her eyes. She frantically searched around for anything to help her, but lady luck was not on her side today.

She very suddenly snapped her head back, successfully hitting the man’s head with her own. The man let out a stream of curses and his grip on her hair loosened greatly, along with the amount of pressure being applied to her back. She twisted, scrambling desperately to get away. The man above her let out a shout of rage and flung himself towards her, grabbing wildly. Eliza must have hit him pretty good, because she was able to catch a glimpse of dark crimson dripping down the man’s face.

“Let go of me! Nonononono-leave me alone!” She kicked out, getting the man in the face- again. He let out a frustrated scream, all traces of the cool and collected bad guy gone. The man made a grab at her hair again, catching it in his fist. Eliza, however, was prepared. She had spotted a lone broken dagger on ground during the panicked slapping match between her and her capture. She grabbed it and swung it back, the chipped blade cutting raggedly through her hair and burying itself in the man’s hand.

The scream that erupted from the man was almost as girly as Eliza’s. With nothing left to hold onto, the man stumbled and lost his footing, falling on his ass onto the ground, bringing most of Eliza’s hair with him. Eliza was panting, uneven breathing the only thing she could hear other than the squeals emitting from the person below her. “Fuck…you.” Those were the only words Eliza could think to say before she turned on her heel, dragging herself away from the excuse of a man wallowing on the ground, and headed out of the camp. She met no other resistance.

When she arrived at the meeting place, it looked like the few soldiers left waiting were about to leave. However, when they saw Eliza, they froze. She knew that she probably looked pretty rough. Cut hair, bruised face, an awkward limp when she walked. “Uh…Jeremiah?” She only gave a half-hearted wave in reply. “Jesus, you look terrible. What the hell happened?” The person before her was none other than Charles Lee. In all honesty, she really didn’t care much for the man, but right now, any familiar face was welcomed.

“It’s a long story. Let’s just…get a move on.” Eliza stepped forward, fully intending to start walking in the direction that everyone else at, but then everything started to go black. “Oh, that’s troublesome. I think I’m going to go to sleep now…” The last thing she remembered was Lee’s worried expression before she completely lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza can't catch a break, can she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would you guys feel if the ship in the story changed to Eliza/Ham/Laurens? A few people on my Tumblr suggested it and I thought it might be a cool idea to mess around with, but I wanted to get all of your guys's opinions as well.

Everything around Eliza was disoriented. It was all a blur of color and sound. She did, however, pick up a few pieces of information as she was desperately trying to fully join back with the real world.

Apparently, her leg wound had opened back up (Eliza suspected it had happened during her struggle with the man from earlier) and she had lost a lot of blood. Funny, she hadn’t even noticed. She also had a minor head injury, nothing major, but enough to give her some painful headaches for the next few days. A broken index finger was also added to her list of injuries. To Eliza, it felt like she was hurt all the time nowadays. 

She learned of all of this from the medic that was moving about over her. She and him had become rather well acquainted in the past month or so. He was saying something, his mouth moving quick and his eyes held something akin to worry- or fear- in them. It took a lot of effort, but eventually Eliza was able to tune into what was being said. “-not right. He’s so frail for a boy his age. Practically a man, with him being eighteen, yet I feel I am mending some bruise or other of his every minute. I turn around and there he is, sitting battered and bloodied on my table.” Eliza was of the opinion that the medic’s statement wasn’t very fair. She was a woman, she wasn’t made for war. _But he doesn’t know that, does he? He thinks you’re a guy._

There was a sigh somewhere to the left of Eliza and then suddenly a very familiar voice filled her ears. “I am well aware of this fact. Jeremiah, though, comes from…unusual circumstances. I find his condition completely understandable, considering what he must have been through.”

“Well enlighten me then, General. What is his ‘ _condition_ ’? I’m genuinely curious. I have half the mind to say that he isn’t fit to fight in the war…” Eliza stiffened. Nuh-uh. There was no way she was allowing that to happen, especially after all she had gone through to get this far. She wasn’t going to accept defeat now. She sat up, stretched her arms, popped her back and yawned. Even though the sudden movement made her head spin, she tried to be as casual as possible, wanting to seem like she hadn’t just completely ease dropped on an entire conversation that was probably meant to be totally private.

Washington seemed relieved to have an excuse not to answer the medic’s question. “Ah, Jeremiah, you’re awake. How are you feeling? Do you- oh, hold on and wait a second. Don’t move so quickly, son. You’re just going to agitate your wounds even more like that.” Eliza appreciated the worry, she really did, but she was getting a little tired of everyone always treating her like a broken doll. She brushed off the General’s worry with a wave of her hand.

“Don’t worry about me, sir. I’m fine, really.” Her statement might have been more believable if she hadn’t staggered in pain the moment she tried to stand up. Washington was instantly putting a firm hand on her shoulder and forcing her back onto the bed. Eliza let out a huff of annoyance but let him push her back down onto the mattress below. “At least get me some food, will you? I’m starving.”

“Aren’t we all,” muttered the medic, but then louder said to the General, “Yes, it will do him some good to get a bit of food in his system. Food, water, and rest are about all I have left that I can recommend to help the healing process.” Washington gave a nod and, with one last look thrown toward Eliza, left to go get her food. The medic looked like he wanted to ask something, but held his tongue. Eliza was glad, that meant less questions she had to answer, which in turn meant less lies she had to give.

When Washington returned, he brought with him a thick slice of bread and hot soup, which, if Eliza was being honest, was probably the best-looking meal she had gotten since she’d left home to join the war. She quietly thanked the man and instantly started devouring her meal. She didn’t notice the water that was being handed to her until she finally slowed down her eating to wipe her mouth. Her face reddened with embarrassment at Washington’s amused look. After that, Eliza started to eat considerably slower.

“Well, I think it would be best if we left Jeremiah here to rest up. I have other people to attend to anyways…” With that said, the medic gave a small wave and left the tent. Washington gave her one last look and a pat on the back before leaving as well. Eliza finished up her meal and sighed contently at having a full belly for once. It had been a while, considering the limited food supply.

She had almost drifted back to sleep when she heard the rustle of fabric and then the sound of someone clearing their throat, effectively stopping her from going back to sleep. She cracked open an eye to see, surprisingly, Lafayette standing above her. “Oh, hey Laf. What are you doing in here? Are you injured?”

“Ah, no. I have been requested to watch over you by our lovely General.” Eliza let out a huff at that. _I don’t need watching. I’m fine on my own._ “It would be a shame if you were to hurt yourself any further, mon chaton.”

“Wah…What does that mean?” She didn’t know French very well. Her education was very limited, after all.

Lafayette just winked. “Nothing, nothing. Why don’t you try to get some more rest? I didn’t mean to wake you with my arrival.” Now that she was fully awake again, Eliza didn’t feel like sleeping. Her mind had been going over what the medic and Washington had been talking about, and she had realized that she hadn’t been pulling her weight around the camp- not really at least. She was more of a guest than anything.

“I’m not tired. Let’s go do something productive, like punch some Redcoats or whatever.” This earned a laugh from the Frenchman.

“You’re cute, mon chaton. I would love to go punch some Brits with you, but I am under strict orders to keep you in this tent until you’re healed.” He smiled and patted her uninjured leg and sat down, resting his chin on his knuckles and staring intently at her. “Let us talk then, shall we?”

Oh, this was going to be a long night, wasn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering, Eliza's hair now looks like Rapunzel's after she got it cut off in the Disney film. I'm kinda in love with the idea of a short-haired Eliza so I had to bring it into the story somehow.
> 
>  
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is practically filler.

“Surprise!”

“What the-Oh my God!”

Eliza spun around to face the person- or, in this case, people- who had snuck up behind her. However, as soon as her eyes landed on their faces, Eliza dropped her bundle of wood in shock, letting the logs fall to the ground. Before her stood her two dearest sisters, Angelica and Peggy. She could already feel tears welling up in her eyes.

Angelica and Peggy rushed her, tackling her into a giant group hug. There were squeals of delight coming from the two sisters as they crushed themselves against her. It took a few seconds for Eliza to form a single coherent sentence out loud, her entire brain was still reeling from shock of the entire situation. “How…how did you guys get here? Does Father know? Why are you here? It’s dangerous here! You guys could get hurt!” Angelica finally pulled away enough to look Eliza in the eyes, however Peggy still held on tightly to her, her little sister’s face buried in the crook of her neck.

“We just had to see you again. It’s been so long, we had to know you were alive. We had to make sure for ourselves.” Peggy finally lifted her head to look at Eliza, her eyes filled with tears of happiness. _She’s grown so much…_

Peggy wiped at her eyes before speaking. “I’ve missed you so much Eli-uh, I mean, si-oh. Uh-“

“Jeremiah,” Eliza said, letting a few tears fall herself. She was so happy to see her sisters again, it had been far too long. However, she still had many questions. “Father…does he know that you two are here? Is he angry with me?” The last part was asked in a whisper, eyes downcast.

Angelica shook her head. “He knows. He’s not angry, just scared. We all miss you, but I think Father has taken it the hardest…” Her eldest sister trailed off, looking grim for a moment, before her face brightened again. “But he’ll be relieved to know you’re okay. I think it’ll put his heart at ease.”

It took a few more minutes for the three to finally untangle themselves from each other. “We should head back to camp. I was supposed to be getting some wood for the fires and stuff, probably should have been back a few minutes ago,” Eliza laughed, a sheepish smile coming to her face. “I’m sure they can handle waiting a little longer for their wood, though.”

The three walked through the small wooded area back to the clearing where the army had set up. While travelling back, Eliza couldn’t help but realize her sisters had traversed these woods in their dresses. She hoped they didn’t tear, she knew her father paid a pretty penny for the material all their clothes were made from. However, she was pulled out of her trivial musings by Peggy.

“You look so manly now, ‘Liza. Or, should I say, _Jeremiah._ I feel like you could lift me with your pinky alone.” Eliza giggled at this, and her two sisters joined in. “Oh, rocking the blue coat, by the way. Those boots are killer, too.” Eliza’s response was a wide smile and flushed cheeks.

When they arrived back, Eliza sat the wood down by the pile of already gathered logs and brushed her hands on her pants. She turned back around to her sisters, who were looking around the camp with hardly-concealed curiosity. “Do you guys want a tour?” She received two enthusiastic nods in response.

There wasn’t much to see, and really, how little living space they had was actually kind of depressing. They had such cramped quarters, and it had taken Eliza a while to get use to the lack of space. Her sisters, however, had nothing but polite comments to give about the camp. _You don’t have to hold back guys, you’re not going to offend me._

They were almost done with their “tour” when the trio was spotted by one Alexander Hamilton. “And what is this I see? Jeremiah getting himself a hot snatch?” Alexander paused for a moment, his eyes roving over Angelica, then Peggy. “Two, hot snatches, I see. I didn’t think you as a lady’s man, Jeremiah.”

Many emotions welled up in Eliza at once. Anger at Alexander for thinking of her sisters as “hot snatches” and annoyance that he would feel the need to comment on such a thing in the first place. Angelica was the one to speak up. “Actually, no. Jeremiah here is our brother.” Her sister gave a small curtsy, though her eyes were hard as steel. “Angelica Schuyler.”

“And Peggy Schuyler,” her younger sister added, also giving a bow. Alexander looked taken aback, his face flushing seemingly in embarrassment.

“The Schuyler Sisters,” Eliza finished softly, feeling her heart flutter with nothing but love for her siblings. 

Alexander stammered, his eyes wide. “I-I had no idea. I’m incredibly sorry about my previous behavior, I was completely out of line.”

Angelica fixed the man before her with an icy gaze. “That you were.”

Apparently two women dressed in expensive gowns was abnormal enough to catch the eye of many passing soldiers. One of these soldiers was none other than John Laurens.

“Yo, what’s going on here? Alexander, Jeremiah, who’re these two lovely ladies?” Though Laurens examined the two women before him, his stare, unlike Alexander’s, didn’t hold the hungry look of a wolf gazing upon his next meal. _At least some men have a little respect for women._

Eliza spoke before Alexander could mess up anything else. “John, these are my sisters, Angelica and Peggy Schuyler. They’ve come to visit me.” Laurens nodded, his hand going to rub at his chin.

“Well, be careful if you plan on staying overnight. These men are like wild animals during mating season.” Peggy let out a snort at that, while Alexander gave a quick series of nods.

Angelica looked appreciative of the warning, even if it was unnecessary (they’ve been schooled on such things many times before), “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you.” Angelica turned to Eliza, an apologetic look overtaking her features. “I’m afraid, however, that me and Peggy cannot stay very long. Father will be expecting us back soon.” The youngest Schuyler sister gave a sad nod at this.

“Either way, it is great just seeing you two again…”

“It’s great seeing you too! The manor is just too quiet without you around, Eli-er, bro!” Peggy blushed at her mistake, but luckily it seemed neither of the two men caught onto it.

Alexander clapped his hands together. “Alrighty. It’s about time to eat. Would you two ladies like to join us? I’m sure the General will let you get first picks.”

Angelica gave him a quick glance before fixing her gaze back on Eliza. “Actually, we need to speak to General Washington about something concerning our father. If you’ll please excuse us…” Both her sisters gave her chaste kisses on the cheek before turning to where Eliza had pointed out Washington’s tent was only a few minutes earlier. “Oh…and John? It was nice meeting you,” Angelica smiled, eyes crinkling at the edges.

John’s entire face lit up. “Nice meeting you, too, Miss Schuyler!” The look that Alexander wore was priceless as the sisters left, without a single farewell thrown his way. He was grumbling about it the whole rest of the night as they ate their food and talked.

Eliza, Laurens, Lafayette, and Hercules took great pleasure in laughing at the poor immigrant’s suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is somehow the longest chapter I've written, I must just love me some good ol' Fierce Women Standing Up For Themselves. Anyhow, prepare for next chapter. :)
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza has night terrors. Poor babe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hit with a wave of inspiration, so you guys get this chapter early!

_Fire roared to life all around her, trapping her in a circle of death. Somewhere in the distance, shrill screams sounded, crashing into her like a giant wave._

_Something glinted harshly in the light of the flames, a dark liquid dripping off the object steadily. There was a flash, and then suddenly, pain._

_White-hot agony erupted in her chest, forcing a screech out of her lungs, rubbing her throat raw. She felt like she was being cut in two. The heat from the fire pressed in on her from all sides, the smoke choking her. The earth beneath her swayed, and suddenly the ground was rapidly getting closer-_

Eliza woke up in a cold sweat. She was drenched, and she couldn’t stop the shivers that ran up and down her spine. She tried taking a deep breath, but the scent of something burning still lingered, filling her nose with unwanted smells. Eliza reached for the light blue blanket that had been gifted to her by Hercules (he had given it to her when she had commented on being cold at night) and buried her nose in its soft fabric. She instantly started to calm down.

As she tried to regulate her breathing, her mind wondered back to her nightmare. It had been terrifyingly vivid, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could almost feel the flames licking at her sides again. Her body shook, trying to get rid of the terrible images and feelings. She felt tears come unbidden to her, and she pushed the blanket harshly against her eyes to stop the flow before it could even begin. _What the hell was that?_

She didn’t want to think about it. She had never had a dream like that, something so cruel and real. Eliza wanted to push the nightmare to the back of her mind and never think about it again. She needed fresh air, concluded, pushing herself up and grabbing her boots. She pulled them on and then proceeded to walk out into the night, a crisp breeze blowing through her hair.

A lot had transpired since her sisters had visited the camp. A few days after they had left camp and headed back to the city, there had been a battle against the British, which was led by Charles Lee. That went about as well as one could expect. Eliza knew John and Alex were pissed, but she hoped they had enough sense to not act upon it. She didn’t know what she would do if they got in trouble and one of them had to be relocated. It had happened to soldiers previously, men who couldn’t settle their differences civilly and as such had to move camps. Eliza couldn’t imagine not seeing both the boys’ smiling faces every day.

Eliza let out a puff of air, watching her breath appear then wisp away in the chilly winter air. Though she had a coat on, the cold still seeped into her bones and sent goosebumps erupting over her arms and legs. She rubbed her arms to warm them up as she continued her evening stroll. The fresh air, though it did feel like needles of ice in her throat, did clear her mind, lifting the haze of fear that had lingered there from her dream.

She suddenly stopped, halting her steps as she heard the low murmur of voices to her left. On light feet, she tiptoed over to the source of noise. What she saw was not what she had been expecting.

“Alex? John?” The two men in question jumped apart from where their faces had been practically touching, eyes blown wide and cheeks flushed. Both men’s clothing was rumpled and half off, while Alexander’s hair was completely out of its ponytail, long dark locks falling beautifully over his shoulders. Eliza didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or squeal like a girl watching her two puppies cuddle together.

John was covering his face with his hands, his blush reaching all the way to his ears and down his neck. “J-Jeremiah. What are you doing up? Shouldn’t you be in bed? Ha…” Alex trailed off, one hand moving to grip at the back of his neck. He, too, looked extremely embarrassed. Suddenly he was right in front of her, gripping both her arms painfully tight. “Jeremiah, you can’t tell anyone what you just saw. _Anyone._ If someone was to find out, they would…they…” Alexander was looking at her with wild eyes “You wouldn’t…right?”

Eliza shook her head. “I won’t tell a soul. Your secret is safe with me.” _We all have dangerous secrets of our own, don’t we?_ Relief flooded Alex’s features, and the man practically sagged in relief.

“Oh thank God,” breathed John, whose face still hadn’t completely recovered from embarrassment. “We owe you big time, Jeremiah. God, you scared me good.” Alexander hummed in agreement.

Eliza waved a dismissive hand. “You guys don’t owe me anything. I really don’t care about who you kiss and all that stuff, honest.”

“Well, we’re doing more than kissing, that’s for sure!” Alexander winked at her, and it was Eliza’s turn to blush. Both boys laughed at her flustered state, Alex poking her in the side. “Just kidding. Well, not really, but you don’t have to know about all that,” there was a brief pause, and then, “unless you wanted to.”

She squeaked and the two men laughed again. “Stop teasing him. C’mon, let’s get out of this cold. I feel like my feet are about to fall off.” John led the way back towards their tents. The chilly air cooled her heated cheeks, but she still felt _something_ whenever one of the boys would turn their gaze to her. Like they were studying her face, tracing her features with their eyes.

Pale dawn light was just barely shining down onto the land when they got back. The three said their goodbyes, as Alex and John had a scouting mission that morning on orders from Washington. However, before leaving, Alex held Eliza’s hand in his own, his grip much softer than before. “Thank you, again. I hope you realize how much you mean to me, Jeremiah. I’m glad we didn’t scare you away with our…relationship.” John turned, warm eyes that looked at Alexander, then Eliza.

“It’s no problem. And…you mean a lot to me, too. Both of you.” Brilliant smiles that could make the sun jealous appeared on both men’s faces, reaching their eyes. It made Eliza’s heart thump hard in her chest. Maybe things were going to be okay, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eliza's nightmares are going to come into play later in the story, so watch out for those. (I'm sorry for making my pure babe suffer).
> 
>  
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burr just wants what's best for Eliza. Sadly, Eliza can't seem to realize that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, two chapters in one week. Yay me!

_She was frozen. Something was holding her there, making it impossible for her to move a single muscle. A voice that sounded sickly sweet in her ear reached her, although she could see nothing._

_“I know who you really are. You can’t hide anything from me. I have nightmare eyes.”_

_Eyes…_

_Impossibly dark eyes stared down at her, stared directly into her soul. She could feel those eyes driving bullets into her, not just her skin, but her entire being. She felt as if she was being pulled apart from the inside._

_“I know who you really are…”_

“Hey! Jeremiah, stop dozing off on me!” Eliza was snapped back to reality by the sound of somebody’s voice. It was familiar, warm, nothing like the voice in her dream. She turned her head to spot Burr, amusement covering his features as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t get enough sleep last night?”

Eliza rubbed a hand down her face. “Yeah, something like that, I guess.” Actually, that wasn’t untrue, she had been half asleep on her feet all day. Though she was glad she had chosen to take a walk that night, for it had opened a new and exciting part in her, John’s, and Alexander’s friendship, she was sorely missing her six hours of sleep. Before joining the Revolution, she had been on a tight eight-hours-of-sleep-every-night schedule, and she had finally gotten used to losing those two extra hours. Leave it to Eliza to fuck it back up.

“Well, help me sort through all of this. That might keep you awake.” Eliza just nodded and began helping Aaron shift through the items stacked in crates. It was mostly all stuff from her Father, given to the army. It had been what Angelica and Peggy had spoken to Washington about when they had come to the camp. Washington was extremely grateful for the care package. “Oh, Jeremiah? I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I thought you deserved to know. Laurens plans on meeting with Lee tomorrow morning at dawn. To duel.”

Eliza stilled in her actions. Was John insane? Sure, he may be pissed at Lee, rightly so, but duels were dangerous. People died in duels. Where was Alexander when all this was decided? Surely, he would have told John how stupid this is. “Does Alex know about this?” Part of her wanted the answer to be no.

“Yes. Hamilton was the one who wanted to duel with Lee in the first place, but Washington ordered him directly not to. So, Laurens is going in his place.” Of course. Why had she expected anything different? _It’d been nice if they had told me of this just earlier. Maybe I could have talked them out of it._

This was bad. Alex and John wouldn’t be coming back to camp for a while, since they were on a scouting mission that would take quite some time to complete. That meant Eliza wouldn’t have a chance to talk them out of it, or at least tell them how stupid they were. Eliza let out a frustrated breath. “Thanks for telling me, Aaron.” Burr gave a single nod of his head in acknowledgement.

“Let’s finish up here. I don’t want to be sorting all this stuff in the dark.” Indeed, dusk was fast approaching. The first few stars were already winking at them through the bare branches above. They quickly got all the items sorted and began making their way back towards their tents. Eliza was still going over what Burr had said, coming up with things she would yell at John and Alex if-no, _when_ -they got back.

“Oui, oui! Jeremiah, Burr, wait up!” Both Eliza and Burr turned to see Lafayette jogging towards them, Hercules following a slightly slower pace. The two stopped, rather reluctantly on Burr’s part, to allow the two men to catch up. “Bonjour! Nice to see you again, mon chaton! You, too, Burr.”

Burr gave Eliza a look that plainly said- _what the fuck?_ Eliza gave a slight shrug in response and instead focused her attention on Hercules, who was speaking with much excitement in his voice. “Did you guys hear? Washington is planning an attack on the British. People think it might be the final battle. The last nail in the coffin, so to speak. It’s going to be nasty! Pchw! Pchw! Pchw!”

Hercules’ little speech ended with very enthusiastic finger guns and what Eliza assumed was supposed to be the imitation of gun noises. She couldn’t help but giggle. “That’s great, I guess? Will Alex finally get to lead his own set of troops this time?” It had become somewhat of an inside joke between their little group on how Alexander has never been able to convince Washington to give him command in the field. It seemed the poor immigrant was stuck suffering as the General’s aide de camp.

Both Lafayette and Hercules chuckled. “I’ve been trying to convince Washington to let our dear little Alex get some action in the field. I think he’s cracking, though very slowly.”

Eliza nodded. “Think you could convince him to let me fight?” She was only half-joking.

“Okay, time to go! It was nice talking to you Lafayette, Mulligan. I think it’s about time for supper anyways.” Burr quickly grabbed Eliza and started herding her towards the food tent, leaving the now-confused duo behind.

Eliza spoke as soon as they were out of hearing range of any soldiers nearby. “What the hell was that?” She was a little ticked that Burr had taken her away from her friends out of the blue like that. She was having a nice conversation with the two before he had practically dragged her away.

Burr let out a groan, like his reason for whisking her away had been obvious. “I just- I don’t want you trying to fight in the war. Or even talking about it,” it was Eliza’s turn to give the _what the fuck?_ stare. “I-I don’t know. It just makes me nervous, okay?”

She exhaled out of her nose before opening her mouth. “Okay, one, you’re _not_ my dad, so you don’t get to tell me what I do and what I don’t do. Two, it was just a joke. J-o-k-e. It’s harmless. And, three, even if I wanted to fight, your opinion would be invalid to the matter! It would be my choice alone!” She knew she was being a bit of a bitch, but the fact that Burr thought he would have any influence on her decisions whatsoever kind of irritated her.

Burr’s nose scrunched up, the closest to looking angry as it got with him. “I am just being a good person and being concerned for your safety. Someone has to do it, anyways.” Oh, it was _on._

“I have perfectly good friends to do that for me, I don’t need your added help.” Burr crossed his arms, which showed he was going into defense mode. After spending a few months with the guy, she had learned to read his body language well.

“Your _‘friends’_ are insane, if you haven’t noticed. One of them even goes around _setting things on fire_ for the fun of it! Who the hell does that?”

“Hey! Don’t fucking judge Laf, we all have our kinks!”

_“I’m not having this fucking argument with you.”_

She could tell Burr was pissed, and a part of her felt bad. But another part of her was still upset with him. “Fine, then leave,” Eliza growled, holding eye contact with Burr for a second.

Burr looked away first. “Fine!”

“Fine!” she countered, not wanting him to get the last word as they slowly walked backwards away from eachother. “And don’t forget to eat dinner, asshole!”

“I won’t, as long as you don’t forget to bathe before six a.m. while no one else is around so you can get some privacy, devil spawn!”

“Ugh, alright, I won’t. See you tomorrow, you piece of shit!”

“See you tomorrow!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duels are dumb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Spring Break, so expect quicker updates (hopefully)!

_Someone was screaming. It was a piercing, continuous stream of pained shrieks. There were no words being said, but the pain that oozed from the sound was evidence of the thing’s agony._

_Another sound joined in, a wailing-like noise. Like someone, or something, was crying. The sobs began overpowering the screams, and soon that was all that filled the air._

_Misery. Pain. Heart-ache. Longing…?_

Eliza was up and out of bed before the sun was in the sky. She went through her morning routine quickly, hoping she wouldn’t be too late. She had debated on whether to sleep at all, but after losing so much already, Eliza knew she wouldn’t be much help unless she got at least a little bit of shut-eye.

She was already dressed and out walking around as the sun slowly climbed its way up to the top of the sky. There was a certain duo of boys she was looking for…

“Jeremiah! I’m surprised to see you up so early, son.” Eliza spun around at the sound of Washington’s booming voice. The man had a smile on his face as he approached her. _I’m assuming he doesn’t know about the duel yet. Poor guy._

Eliza tried offering a small smile of her own. “Morning, sir. I was just up looking for, uh, someone. Was supposed to meet them somewhere.”

Washington nodded. “Well, why don’t I walk with you, then? Keep you company.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Not that she didn’t enjoy Washington’s company. Well, most of the time she did. Sometimes he could be a bit overbearing. Eliza knew it was all with good intentions, though.

They walked at a leisurely pace- which agitated Eliza a little, because goddammit, she was supposed to be racing to save someone- with Washington humming a cheery tune under his breath. “You seem in good spirits, General,” Eliza commented.

“Just appreciating this life that God has given us. I haven’t had any time to just, _live_ , in what feels like years. Being able to just walk here beside you, as another human being and not some higher-up, feels wonderful.” Washington finished with another easy smile that stretched across his face. “It’s great just being here with you, son. I’m glad you’re still around.”

“Oh, yeah, me too,” she said distractedly. Eliza could feel the looming disaster that was coming. Poor Washington, he didn’t ask for unruly soldiers. “Well, actually sir, I have something I need to tell y-“ she was cut off by the sound of a gunshot.

The General’s face filled with dread as he raced off in the direction the gunshot had sounded from, Eliza trying her best to keep up. _Not the boys, not the boys, nottheboysnottheboysnottheboys- anyone but Alex and John. Please, God._ By the time they arrived, Eliza was panting heavily, having a hard time getting air into her lungs, from both the running and the fear that she would find either Alex or John lying in a pool of their own blood.

Luckily, that was not the case. “What is the meaning of this?!” Washington’s booming voice overrode the murmurs of the gathered crowd. Many people jumped. The General’s eyes fell to where Charles Lee was shaking and pale, trying desperately to get up off the ground, but failing miserably. “Burr, get a medic for the general!”

Burr gave a salute and a “Yes sir!” before racing off.

Eliza ran up to John and tackled him in a hug. “You idiot! You could have gotten injured, or-or _killed!_ What were you thinking?!” She could feel the man’s shaky exhale as his arms wrapped around her body. He kept whispering _sorry’s_ and _it’s okay, I’m fine’s_ in her ear soothingly. 

She hadn’t been paying attention to what Washington had been saying until she heard the very clearly angry _“Hamilton, meet me inside!”_ and the quiet gasps of the people still gathered around. John carefully untangled himself from her.

“I’m sorry, but I have to sort this out. I’ll be right back, promise.” Eliza could only nod mutely as she watched John jog to catch up to the retreating backs of Washington and Alexander.

Her gaze turned to Burr and the medic he had brought with him, and watched as they gently laid down Lee on a make-shift stretcher. Burr switched out with another soldier, letting him and the medic carry the injured general back to camp for treatment.

Eliza walked up to Burr, and promptly punched him in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were participating in the duel?” she asked angrily. Burr, for his part, only flinched a little.

“I wasn’t participating. I was simply playing the role of Lee’s second. I tried to _stop_ the duel. Obviously, that didn’t work out too well.” Eliza deflated a little. She didn’t doubt that Burr probably tried to end the fight before it even happened; he hated confrontation.

A sigh pushed its way past her lips. “Well, thanks, I guess. For the attempt.”

Burr nodded meekly. “I know how much Laurens means to you. If I could, I was going to try and stop him from being an idiot and getting himself hurt.”

She laughed at this. “That’d be a miracle.” The two fell into an awkward silence, people now pushing past them to get back to camp, since it was obvious nothing else exciting was going to happen. “Hey, uh, Aaron? I’m sorry about last night. I don’t know what got into me, really. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”

The man before her finally lifted his head up to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry too. God, I was scared you were going to hate me after that. I mean, that’s what happens whenever I open my mouth.” Eliza felt a little piece of her heart break at that.

“No, don’t say that! I could never hate you. You’ve helped me so much through all of this shit, I’d probably be dead without you. You’re amazing, Aaron. Honest.” For a second, Eliza could have sworn she saw tears well up in Burr’s eyes, but then the moment passed, and instead a small smile appeared on the man’s face.

_“Thank you.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #GiveBurrAHug  
> Comments are greatly appreciated and are big motivators to keep on writing!
> 
>  
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye, John.  
> Hello, Impending Doom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm extremely sorry it took a little longer than normal for me to update, I have no excuse, I just chose to slack off and be lazy for an entire week. Quick warning: This was written in the span of 20 minutes. I'm sorry.

John was being relocated to South Carolina.

That had been the arrangement Alexander, John, and Washington had made. It was easier that way, Washington claimed. It kept the tension from building back up again.

However, no matter how Washington put it, Eliza was still upset. Who knows when the war is going to end? The next battle could be the last, or maybe the battle two weeks from now, or two years. War was unpredictable, and Eliza wasn’t sure she could handle not seeing John for such a long period of time.

“I’m going to miss you,” Those were the words she was met with when she went to see John off that morning. “And I’m sorry for being such an idiot.”

“As you should be.” Though the words themselves were scolding, Eliza’s tone was more exhausted than anything. She didn’t want him leave. John opened his arms in offering, and Eliza graciously accepted, hugging him with all her might.

They stayed like that for a moment, saying nothing, but not having to. They pulled away when Alexander, Lafayette, and Hercules arrived, and all of them gave their own goodbyes. Hercules initiated something best described as a manly group hug, and then Eliza was stepping back with the others as Alex gave John a more private farewell.

“I hope we see our dear John back and well soon,” commented Lafayette. Both her and Hercules hummed in agreement.

“Well, I guess I’m off,” John hopped onto his horse, which was already saddled and packed with the needed supplies to get the man from point A to point B. “Stay safe, you guys!”

They gave their final waves as John, on his horse, galloped softly away. Hercules was the first to speak up. “Man, I’m going to miss that guy.” Alexander gave a soft “yeah” in reply.

“Ah, well, much to do, much to do. We cannot afford to stand around here all day, my dear friends. There are preparations to be made!” Lafayette twirled around on his heel and started marching with purpose back to camp. The three soldiers left followed after him, though with slightly less enthusiasm. John’s departure was still fresh in their minds. 

 

It had been five days, and Eliza was still miserable. However, the preparations for the battle that was to take place at Yorktown were a good distraction. There was an excited buzz that seemed to spread throughout the entire camp.

Alexander was even more passionate about the war effort than ever. Many nights he stayed up with Washington and Lafayette, mapping out battle plans. During the day, he was either running around camp barking orders at soldiers or hid away somewhere pouring over letters, tactics, and sketches.

Even so, he somehow still managed to find time in his busy schedule to talk to Eliza. Most of the time they would converse over insignificant things, keeping the topics light. She had never felt more grateful for having someone like Alex to help her in her life.

Aaron, Hercules, and Lafayette also tried their best to keep her mind off things. She appreciated the gesture, but by the third or fourth time that Laf had interrupted her meal time to show her a cool rock he had found by the river, it began to get weary. 

“-see, it’s different from the other one, because where the last one had red stripes going across it, this one has a single stripe that is more of an orange-brown-red-grey going down the middle. But, what is _really_ fascinating is-“

“Yeah, that’s really amazing, Laf. Truly captivating.” Eliza stated bluntly, cutting the man off.

Lafayette pouted. “Though your words are enthusiastic, your tone is melancholy. What is wrong, mon chaton?” he put his rock back safely in his coat pocket before sitting down across from Eliza.

Eliza sighed, not wanting to hurt her friend’s feelings, but also not wanting to have to sit through another one of his very detailed speeches on rocks. She loved the man, but sometimes she wondered how he made it through life having to deal with himself every day. Eliza just couldn’t imagine.

“It’s…nothing. I guess I’m just anxious about the upcoming battle,” she knew Laf could probably tell that wasn’t the reason at all, but he was too good a friend to push her for information. “I hear it’s going to be a big one.”

“Oh, it is! We plan on delivering a hard blow to the British forces with this one!” Laf spoke with so much passion it was hard not to start feeling a little excited as well. Eliza let a small smile form on her lips.

“I hope it goes well. You guys are definitely putting a lot of energy into the planning of this one.” Laf nodded, suddenly getting a serious look on his face.

“Yes, our dear General is of the opinion that this might be our last battle.” Her friend’s statement shocked Eliza a little. Washington planned to end it with this upcoming battle? That was both parts thrilling and terrifying. How many men were going to be lost, if this attack was anything like people were hyping it up to be?

“That’s great! I think? I don’t know, I just hope everything goes alright!” Eliza didn’t want to think about the bloodshed that would undoubtedly be produced by such a huge battle.

“I am sure with our dear General Washington at the reins, everything will go splendidly,” Laf said, an odd smile on his face. “Oh, that reminds me! I overheard Alexander speaking with General Washington, and I believe he wants you to be part of the battalion he will be leading! Isn’t that great, mon chaton?”

Eliza was stunned for a moment. Alex wanted her with him in battle? Not only that, but Washington agreed to it? She had been under the impression that Washington was doing everything he could to keep her away from the action. He must be quite confident that this would be the final battle. The thought gave Eliza a new-found hope.

“It’s…something, alright. I’m surprised Washington agreed.”

“Well, he must know that you will do wonderfully!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated and big motivators!  
> We are getting close to the end. Maybe 2-3 chapters left. I'm not too sure how the story will go, but just know I have given up on historical accuracy. Do with that what you will.
> 
>  
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander, nO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, we're closing in. This chapter, next chapter, then probably an epilogue, and then we're done!

“Jeremiah, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’m never going to allow you near a gun ever again.”

The soldiers around them laughed at Alexander’s comment as Eliza, once again, failed miserably at loading and cocking a gun. The one time she had been able to shoot it, it had been so close to hitting someone that Alexander had been forced to move them to a more isolated area to practice.

“I think that’d be best for everyone, Alex,” Eliza said, handing back the heavy weapon. It had been tiring to hold. A tall man with bronze skin took it, effortlessly getting it loaded and ready to be shot.

“Why don’t you go clean your hands up by the stream, Jeremiah?” Alexander suggested, amusement clear in his features as he looked at Eliza’s hands. She had black powder all over them from trying to ready her gun. Her cheeks burned bright red as she nodded and quickly headed off towards the stream of water.

It took a while to get the powder completely off, and some still remained under her nails (when had they gotten so long?) but finally she washed enough of it off to be satisfied. She sighed, wishing she could splash some cool water onto her face, but knew if she did she risked messing up her makeup.

Eliza was about to head back to group when a familiar figure walked into view.

“Jeremiah! How are you, son? Doing well, I hope.” Washington’s tone was nothing but friendly and warm, and Eliza didn’t realize until that point how much she missed him. She had been “training” with Alexander and his group of men for a few weeks now, while Washington had gone from camp to camp, informing people of battle preparations. She was glad he was back.

“I’m fine, sir! It’s gracious of you to think of my well-being, especially with the amount of stress that must be on you.”

Washington beamed at her and clapped a large hand on her shoulder. “It’s no problem, I’m always looking out for my soldiers. I care about you.” Eliza’s heart warmed at the statement. “And, you know, if you don’t want to,” The General’s voice dropped down a little, like he was afraid someone was going to overhear, even though they were rather secluded from everyone else, “you don’t have to fight. No one will force you to. Actually, I’d rather you stay behind. I don’t want you getting hurt, son.”

Concerned eyes stared into Eliza’s, and though she was honored to have Washington care so much about her, she already knew her answer. “Thank you, sir, but I want to fight. I want to be by Alexander’s side when we win.”

She watched as Washington’s shoulders sagged. “If that’s what you want, son, I won’t fight it. But, please, be safe out there.”

“I will sir, thank you.”

When Eliza arrived back at the group, it seemed everyone was taking a break. It was funny how these men who knew how to kill could go from stone-cold and deadly to goofy and jolly so easily. Soldiers were lazing around the make-shift camp, laying against stacked-up crates and logs, cracking jokes and chugging flasks of alcohol. She sometimes wondered how they won any battles at all.

“Eyyyy, Jeremiah! Been lookin’ for you!” Eliza turned to see Alexander jogging up to her, liquor in hand.

“Alexander, you’re _so_ drunk. I was only gone for like, what, 10 minutes? And look at you, already off your rocker.” Alex’s only response was a huge grin stretching across his face.

“What can I say, I like alcohol. Gives me a confidence boost.”

Eliza rolled her eyes. “And why would a man like you need a confidence boost? You have enough of that for the both of us as it is.”

Alexander shrugged. “Well, I’ve come to realize it’s kind of hard to be confident around beautiful men like yourself, Jeremiah.”

For a moment, they just stared at each other. Alexander’s eyes searched her own, waiting to see what her response would be. Eliza gulped.

“Alex…” Eliza hadn’t realized until that moment how close their faces had become. It would be so easy. Just lean in a little, maybe an inch, and connect their lips. Her eyes darted down to them, they looked so nice and pink and slightly chapped. Exactly how she expected them to be.

Eliza was seriously considering tackling Alexander right then and there and making out with him when a voice sounded behind her, making the two of them jump.

“THE LADIES BROUGHT FOOD!” Both her and Alexander snapped their heads over to see that, indeed, a trio of lovely ladies had arrived with platters of food. The woman at the front of the pack giggled and handed over her platter, followed by her companions. The men around them rushed towards the food as one entity, acting as if it would be their last meal.

“Guess we should go join them,” commented Alex, looking slightly disappointed the moment had been ruined.

Eliza sighed. “I guess we should.”

 

Dinner had been jovial, even if it had stopped something from happening between her and Alex. The women had been nice company, and Eliza had even conversed with one of them. Everyone went to bed with full bellies and good spirits.

“Hey, Jeremiah,” started Alexander hesitantly, “would you maybe want to, uh, you know, sleep in my tent tonight?” He looked so cute and hopefully Eliza wouldn’t had been able to say no even if she had wanted to.

She gave a shy smile as she answered, “I’d love to.” With the expression that overcame Alex’s face, you would have thought he had just asked Eliza to marry him and she had accepted. His happiness was contagious, and Eliza found herself smiling widely and giggling along with him as they tucked themselves in for the night.

“Why are you still wearing this silly thing?” asked Alex, a pout on his face as he pinched the fabric of Eliza’s silk undershirt between his fingers.

Eliza ducked her head, not out of embarrassment, but out of alarm that the man might catch the look of terror that passed over her features at the suggestion. “I guess I’m just…conscious of my body. I’ve never been undressed in front of another person,” Eliza gave as an explanation. It wasn’t like it was untrue.

Alexander chuckled, unaware of Eliza’s sudden change in mood. “Ah, so you’re innocent. That’s adorable.” Suddenly the body beside her shifted, and she found herself caged with two arms on either side of her head, Alex hovering above her. “There is nothing to be conscious about, my dear. You look lovely, and I’m sure you would look even better without all this clothing in the way…”

The breath against Eliza’s cheek was warm, and still smelled faintly of booze. It kind of frightened her. “Alexander, don’t,” she whispered, pressing her hands hard into his chest as a signal to stop. “Please.”

In an instant, Alex was off her and looking extremely guilty. “God, Jeremiah, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’m an ass,” Eliza noticed how he suddenly seemed very small, like he was trying to make himself disappear. “I think it would be better if I slept on the floor tonight.”

She shook her head, reaching out to grab Alex’s arm before he could move more than an inch. “No, stay. Just…don’t do anything wild. We can cuddle, if you want?” Alexander nodded his head happily at the suggestion, moving to where his chest was pressed against Eliza’s back. She sighed, enjoying the warmth his body provided. Eliza felt Alexander nuzzle slightly into the crook of her neck, and the smile that came across her face was embarrassingly huge.

“This is nice,” breathed Alex.

Eliza could only hum in agreement before she drifted off, the sound of Alexander’s breathing soothing her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect the last few chapters to come out quickly. I don't plan on leaving you guys in suspense for too long!
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated and big motivators!
> 
>  
> 
> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ur welcome

Everything around Eliza was either on fire or collapsing- sometimes both. The heat was almost unbearable, and the smoke invaded her nose and filled her lungs, making it impossible to breath correctly.

It had happened at the break of dawn, with most of the soldiers still asleep and recovering from hangovers. Redcoats had invaded the make-shift camp, bringing with them guns, swords, and torches.

No one had been prepared. There was no time to put their hard work into action. Soldiers fell quickly, half dressed and half awake. It was the screams that woke Eliza.

Redcoats surrounded them. The small amount of Patriots left tried, without success, to push them back. Alexander was somewhere near, Eliza could hear him, but the flames and the smoke made it difficult to see anything clearly. _This isn’t how this was supposed to happen. We planned so much for this battle, but the British beat us. They’ve won._

They had formed a plan. They were going to win, it was to be “a clean victory” Alex had said. Now, they were falling one by one and the British were not faltering. Eliza felt a sob force its way past her lips. She needed to find Alex, make sure he was safe. However, she was too afraid to call out. It was like her vocal cords were being squeezed by a giant fist.

Eliza stumbled her way through the flaming crates and the crumbling hastily-built walls made of dried logs that were meant as defenses against the enemy. The sight was depressing. She could feel her body shutting down with each step.

She thought she spotted Alex a few feet ahead of her. “A-Alex?” Eliza’s voice came out a croak, it hardly sounded like her at all. The person turned, eyes wide.

“Jeremiah! Get out of here! Get away from the fire!” _Even in a time like this, he’s still worried about me._ Eliza would have smiled, but it seemed her body was not listening to her anymore. Everything felt fuzzy. Everything looked fuzzy as well.

Suddenly, she saw one thing with certain clarity. A Redcoat was sneaking up behind Alex, who was still turned facing Eliza, trying to convince her to get away. However, everything else except for Alex and the Redcoat seemed unimportant in that moment. Her feet moved themselves of their own accord, bringing her body to intercept the sword that was coming down terrifyingly fast towards Alex’s head. Instead, she watched as the blade swung, burying itself in Eliza’s chest.

Someone screamed. Maybe it was her, or Alex, or even the Redcoat who didn’t quite know what was going on. Eliza didn’t care. She still stood, her arms outstretched to shield as much as Alex as possible. The Brit was staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at Eliza, mouth open but no words coming out. For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. Just the three of them, not doing anything but standing and staring. The blade didn’t remove from Eliza’s chest, and the man holding the sword didn’t let go.

Then, as if someone had pressed play, everything started happening at once. The Redcoat stumbled back, yanking his sword out of her chest in the process. Eliza fell to her knees with a dull thud, too weak to keep standing on her own. Alexander rushed the man, who was still trying to piece together what had happened, and punched him square in the face. That seemed to be the trigger, for Alex descended on the man like a raging storm.

“How dare you? How dare you?! How dare you hurt the ones I love?! No-no don’t fucking run away from me! Get back here! Asshole, don’t run away!” Alex grabbed the man by the waist and harshly pulled him back to the ground. The Redcoat was sobbing and screaming, trying in vain to get away from the furious immigrant.

“Alex, stop.” The man in question froze, and the Brit used this as an opportunity to get away from the small, rage-filled Patriot. He stumbled a moment, before gaining his footing and running away at full speed, screaming about a “terrifying demon” as he went.

Even though she had only spoken two words, that alone left Eliza feeling utterly exhausted. It hurt to speak, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to just be. She crumpled in on herself, but luckily Alexander was there to catch her body before it hit the ground. “Oh my God. Jeremiah, please, don’t die on me. I can’t lose you. I-I need you. Please,” Alexander was full-on crying now, fat tears rolling down his face. “Medic! I need a medic over here!” his voice died into a whimper half-way through, “someone, please, save him…”

Alex, as carefully as he could, lifted Eliza into his arms. “F-fuck, Jeremiah, you’re so light,” another sob tore through the man’s throat. “You should really eat more, you know.” On wobbling legs, Alexander carried Eliza through the flames and smoke. It seemed most of the fighting was over, dead and almost-dead bodies scattered about. The only thing that seemed to be fully alive was the fire.

Alexander’s voice was little more than a whisper. “S-someone, help,” he walked a little farther before stumbling and falling, his arms outstretched to soften the impact for Eliza as much as he could. “I’m sorry, Jeremiah, I failed you. I can’t. I can’t go on anymore…” Blackness was filling Alex’s vision, and the heat surrounding them had started to feel oddly comforting. Like it was inviting him to go to sleep and never wake up.

Eliza forced herself to speak. “Alex, there’s something you need to know-“ she cut herself off with a sputtering cough that shook her to the core, specks of blood escaping from her lips. _I’m not who you think I am._ “I’m- I- fuck, Alex, I love you.”

A pitiful laugh emitted from Alexander. “That’s funny, because I was just thinking about how I love you, too.” The man forced his body to move to curl around Eliza’s, even though the simple action sent shocks of pain throughout his body.

There was nothing left to say. Eliza attempted to move her head, her lips somehow finding Alexander’s. With one last surge of strength, Eliza pressed her mouth firmly to Alex’s, who tried his best to return the kiss.

The last thing Eliza remembered was the kiss, and Alexander pressed gently against her, and how this felt strangely like the night before, with her falling asleep with the warmth of Alexander letting her soothingly drift away into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot damn! We're done! All that's left is the epilogue, then this fic is finished! Just wanted to say thank you to all 1000+ of you (holy shit that's a lot) who've clicked on my work. And an even bigger thank you to the 100+ of you that have left kudos (I'm in awe that so many people liked my writing??). And the biggest thank you to all of those who have left comments on each chapter, or just left a comment once, it means so much to me, you don't even know. Your words give me so much joy. 
> 
> Have any ideas on what my next fic should be? Yeah, my neither. 
> 
> Once again, thank you so, so, much for all the support! Till next time! :)


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How everyone reacts/what happens afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda regret promising an epilogue, not because I think you guys don't deserve it (because you totally do!) but because I suck so bad at writing endings. This is not how I wanted my story to come to a close, because honestly the writing in this is complete trash. I'm really sorry :/

It wasn’t until after the bodies were found that it came out that Jeremiah Schuyler was never a real person, but just a woman in disguise. By the end of the American Revolution, “Elizabeth Schuyler” became a household name. Women came from all over the new-found country to attend Eliza’s funeral and honor her. People filled the streets for days, holding flowers and the like to drop off at the memorial. Philip Schuyler had never been prouder.

John received the news of Alex’s and Eliza’s deaths via a letter from Burr, of all people. He had been devastated. The two people he had loved most had been lost to him forever. He had never even gotten to tell how much he loved them.

Aaron had been on the retrieval team that had been sent out to try and find as many alive soldiers (and corpses) as possible. When he stumbled upon the two bodies, his mind seemed to shatter. The image of Eliza’s broken and bleeding body curled around Alexander still haunted his dreams and ate away at his brain for the rest of his life. He didn’t attend the funeral, and it took him three years to be able to visit Eliza’s grave.

George Washington was greeted with the sight of the bodies of the two people he saw as his sons stacked haphazardly on a rickety stretcher early one morning before the end of the war. Soldiers would forever pass down the story of War Hero General George Washington’s freak out. It is still believed that is was that event that sparked the fire for the Patriots, and in the end helped to win the war. Washington would give many inspiring speeches in his later years as president about the wonderful woman who fooled everyone and proved herself as an American Solider.

Angelica and Peggy Schuyler got the letter announcing their sister’s death only three days before the funeral. Peggy could barely stand as she listened to her sister’s ceremony, and had to be held through the entire burial so that she wouldn’t fall to the ground in anguish. Angelica never fully recovered from her sister’s death, and lived the rest of her life regretting her choice of letting Eliza fight in the war in the first place. Both sisters foolishly believed their dear sister’s death was partly their fault, and were never able to live down that shame.

Lafayette and Hercules found out about their two friends’ deaths through the talk of other soldiers. When the two finally confronted Washington about it, the general relinquished that both Alexander and Eliza had died. Lafayette was never able to forgive himself for all those times Washington tried to tell him not to let Eliza fight, and yet he fought back against his general’s words and made Washington let her join Alexander’s battalion anyways. The sting of losing two of their closest friends never fully went away, even after the statue of the Alex and Eliza, together, (helped funded by France) went up to honor their contribution to the war.

Eliza and Alexander would never get to see how much their legacies impacted the people of America. But, even so, Alex got his dream of being remembered after his death. And Eliza got her dream, too. To help protect the people and country she loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I would sell my soul to see a drawing of the final scene of the story (with Eliza and Alexander curled around eachother). I just don't have money lol. 
> 
> What do you guys wanna see for my next fic? I'm honestly opened to suggestions, because I keep trying and failing to write good, original content that I think you guys will want to see. Comment any suggestions you might have, because I've run dry. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Love you all! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Woah, that was a wild ride. Pretty sure I completely jacked up the character types lol.  
> I started posting this on Tumblr, but also on here now via request of a friend. More in-depth discussions on chapters can probably be found on there, so here is the link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jistery  
> I hope you enjoyed the story :D!


End file.
